Arable crops
A new version of the text below is currently being prepared
Arable crops include a wide range of annual crops of primary importance, such as wheat, barley, maize, rye, colza, sunflower, peas, etc. They cover 40% of the European Union's utilised agricultural area, and are found in all the Member States. Since 1992, they have been eligible for a hectare-based Community aid scheme which also includes "set-aside" measures for withdrawing land from cultivation. This system is the largest category of expenditure in the Union’s budget. As such, it features prominently in the reform of the CAP resulting from Agenda 2000.
In the cereals sector, internal prices are, on average, still higher than world prices. This makes it very hard to export European cereal crops and products processed from them without subsidies – the "refunds" which exporters receive to offset the difference between their purchase price on the European market and their sales price on world markets. The subsidised exports are limited each year in terms of both volume and value, as part of the Union’s international commitments to the WTO.
Aligning Community prices with those on the world market should therefore make it possible to export without subsidies, and therefore without quantitative ceilings. Community products will therefore be able to benefit from opportunities in a world market where the volume of trade is expected to increase significantly in the medium term.
In addition, more competitive EU production of cereals compared with imported products will maintain marketing opportunities in the animal feed sector at a high level or even increase them.
As for oilseeds, the gradual alignment of payments per hectare with the aid planned for cereals and set-aside will eventually eliminate their specific character, thus freeing producers of the hectare limits set out in the Blair House agreement.
Management Committee:
-
Summary reports
Cereals balance sheet [pdf]
Remaining quantity of maize available for intervention [pdf]
